| Ventolin | ||||
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| EP by Aphex Twin | ||||
| Released | 27 March 1995 | |||
| Genre | Hardcore techno, noise, aggrotech | |||
| Length | 26:27 | |||
| Label | Warp Records (UK) Sire/Elektra Records (rest of world) |
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| Producer | Aphex Twin | |||
| Aphex Twin chronology | ||||
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"Ventolin" is a piece of electronic music composed by Cornish musician Richard D James. It is noted for its abrasive sound. James recorded numerous versions of the piece under his Aphex Twin alias.
The piece is named after a trade name for the drug Salbutamol, which is prescribed for the treatment of asthma. A reported side effect of this drug is tinnitus, a high pitched ringing in the ears. James utilized this effect in "Ventolin", incorporating a piercing high-pitched ringing sound throughout the track. The music also incorporates heavily distorted techno beats. The resulting effect has been cited as "one of the most abrasive singles ever recorded". [1]
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The first recording of "Ventolin" (the "Video Version") appeared on a music video produced to accompany the track. The video consists of a woman being trapped in an elevator with other industrial images interspersed. The "Video Version" of the track was released a month later on the 1995 Aphex Twin album ...I Care Because You Do.
The "Salbutamol Mix" on this EP is an extended version of the "Video Version".
In 1995, Warp Records released "Ventolin" as a single in the United Kingdom, on 12" vinyl and CD in two parts, Ventolin and Ventolin Remixes. Between them, these EPs featured a further 12 versions of "Ventolin". (The United States release, by Sire Records, collects all of the tracks on a single CD.)
The singles' artwork, by Dan Parkes (who also designed the artwork for On), featured renaissance-style anatomical drawings of a human head and upper torso, together with an asthma inhaler and the Aphex Twin logo.
Whilst all the twelve versions of "Ventolin" on these singles are labelled as ostensible remixes, in many cases they appear to be almost entirely new pieces of music, bearing only nominal relation to the original. The "Wheeze" mix is the only remix that utilizes the high-pitched ringing and sounds from the original Ventolin. In typical Richard D James fashion, several of the mixes are labelled with obscure or bizarre titles, some of which are Cornish placenames.
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